


Alone together, by your side.

by RussianSunflower3



Series: Sunflower's MatsuIwa week [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Baking, Depression, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Makki's kitchen mess!, MatsuIwa Week, alone time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:00:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11149884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RussianSunflower3/pseuds/RussianSunflower3
Summary: Each Wednesday, once school has finished for the day, the Seijou third years go their separate ways. Sometimes all four of them are alone, sometimes in pairs.The time alone is refreshing, because even those deeply in love need a little space and some quiet to feel at peace.No matter what though, when one of them needs the other, they'll always be there.





	Alone together, by your side.

Like all couples, Iwaizumi and Matsukawa find peace with each other, love being together, and enjoy the time they spend by each other’s sides. And like most couples, every now and then, they take a break from being around other people including each other, just for some alone time. It’s a vital part of how they function, balancing their relationship with their social and personal lives.

Henceforth, Wednesday nights had become solitary nights, where instead of hanging out with each other after school, they’d part with a kiss at the school gates and go their separate ways. Sometimes, they hung out with other friends instead. Sometimes, they went out with parents. Other times, they liked to be alone. This particular Wednesday, Matsukawa had chosen the alone option.

Matsukawa stood in the centre of his bedroom, in front of a music stand. He wasn’t particularly good, but he’d watched an anime where the main character played flute, so here he was, giving it his best despite the fact he couldn’t read music. At all. All he was knew was that the notes moved up and down with the pitch, right? A high pitch squeak of his flute made him wince.

Okay, he _definitely_ wasn’t suited to this. Sighing, he put the flute away and moved the music stand to the corner of the room, shutting the music book rather harshly. Well, at least he now had time for computer games. Logging onto the computer was easy. Staying on track was hard. He ended up not playing games, but instead somehow weaving through the internet until he was watching youtube videos on bizarre animal mutations. Weird.

Another sigh had him rubbing at his tired eyes, wondering if tonight was just a boring night, or if he was completely out of energy to do things. Maybe read? Nah, too much effort. He could clean his room… But he did that yesterday. A movie would be good, if he hadn’t watched everything he wanted to already.

As if reading his mind, his phone blipped with a message from the group chat. Apparently, Hanamaki was in a dire situation that broke the rules of “No group chat on Wednesdays”.

**Makki:** I know it’s wednesday, but I really need you all over here RIGHT NOW. 

**Toto-chan:** What did you do? Are you okay?

**Makki:** I was trying to cook and now the kitchen ceiling is splattered with rainbow cupcake mixture, my parents are home in 15 minutes, help please.

**Mattsun:** Has anyone told you you’re an idiot?

**Toto-chan:** AHAHAHA! Sorry Makki, you’re on your own with this one!

**Makki:** Many times. It’s my only redeeming quality.

**Makki:** And Tooru, whyyyyy

**Toto-chan:** I need to stay with Iwa-chan. He’s having a bad day.

**Mattsun:** Fuck. Do I need to be there?

Matsukawa grips his phone tightly, biting into his bottom lip as he waits for an answer. It takes a while, but he knows better than to push for it. Oikawa is probably talking to Iwaizumi, trying to get a clear answer. Eventually, the dots that indicate typing pop up.

**Toto-chan:** Nope! He says go help Makki before his parents kill him! We’ll be okay here for a little while.

**Makki:** Yeah, get over here Eyebrows.

**Makki:** Though if he really does need you, I’ll kick you out before you blink.

**Mattsun:** Thank you, Makki. Let me know how things go, Oikawa.

**Toto-chan:** I’ll post frequent updates!

**Makki:** Now get your ass over here because i can’t clean all THIS by myself.

_Makki sent a pic_

**Mattsun:** Holy shit Hanamaki.

**Toto-chan:** Not even _I_ fuck up that badly.

Matsukawa laughs as he closes the group chat and locks his phone, tucking it into his pocket. He jogs down the stairs and slips his shoes on without undoing the laces, his heel flattening the back of each shoe.

“Mother, mummy, mama, I’m off to help Makki avoid murder! Again.”

“Be safe!” The reply is full of playful intent, Matsukawa-san knowing full well what her son means when he talks about his friends ‘avoiding murder’. Generally, a huge mess at home. Matsukawa jogs over to Hanamaki’s - a brisk 5 minute walk away - and strolls in just in time to hear Makki cursing cake mix with all his heart. He even sounds a little tearful, which is highly amusing.

“I take it you’ve made a bigger mess by trying to clean up?” Hanamaki’s head pokes out the kitchen doorframe, a mop behind him. Sure enough, he’s on the verge of sobbing.

“Don’t mock me, asshole! Get in here and help!” Matsukawa’s laugh trails off as he walks into the kitchen, eyes widening and jaw dropping.

“Makki, what the fuck have you done?”

“Look, I can’t even explain this. Just grab a dishcloth or something and _start scrubbing_.” Matsukawa picks up a scrubbing brush from the side, putting it to good use as he reaches up to the ceiling. Sometimes, being tall has its advantages outside of volleyball.

“So… I’m curious. Please try and explain what happened.” Hanamaki sighs, gesturing towards the open oven, a tray of half baked rainbow slush sitting on the open door.

“When I checked it shortly after putting it in, it had a _huge_ bubble in the middle. So I thought, no biggie, I’ll just deflate it and it’ll bake properly.” Matsukawa claps a hand over his mouth to cut off a laugh, knowing roughly what Hanamaki is going to say next.

“Surprise. Popping a cake bubble is like that time we put a condom filled with chilli sauce in the microwave. It does _not_ end well.” There’s no holding back the warm burst of laughter that breaks free, and Matsukawa internally apologises to Hanamaki, who stares at him deadpan as he wipes the mop up and down the wall.

“Okay, okay, that explains part of it, but I don’t think that could cause the chaos we saw in the picture.”

“Right, that’s only half of it. Or a third. So the second I realise there’s rainbow splatter all over the ceiling, I grab the mop. Unfortunately, I forgot that adding water to cake mixture just makes it thinner and drippy-er. So it started streaking down the walls and dripping on the floor.”

“Ah, so _that’s_ how it got to picture state. And now?”

“This brown, bubbly sludge? This is what happens when you dump a whole load of washing liquid on the walls and try to mop upwards, thinking you can clean it off with elbow grease. Apparently, you can’t.”

“Oh Hanamaki, you poor, tortured soul.” The half sarcastic remark gets him an elbow to the ribs, but Matsukawa simply snickers and carries on. Somehow, remarkably, the stains start to come off. It’s not quite in time though.

“Takahiro, we’re home!” Hanamaki goes through an entire colour palette before he settles on paled, fearful gaze fixed on the kitchen door. Matsukawa calmly opens the kitchen window, heaving himself up so his feet are on the windowsill.

“Matsukawa… Please, make sure there’s confetti at my funeral.”

“I gotcha bro.” He pauses to give Hanamaki a good luck thumbs up, and strolls away. As he is, there’s a buzz from his phone. He wrestles it out of his trousers as quickly as possible, worried about Iwaizumi.

**Toto-chan:** Iwa-chan wants to see you but he also doesn’t want to interrupt you.

**Toto-chan:** But I’m telling you to come over here NOW because he needs you. Badly.

**Mattsun:** omw. be 5 at most.

With the quick reply frantically typed, Matsukawa kneels down to tug the heels of his shoes up and breaks into a run towards Iwaizumi’s. Bad days don’t come around often for Iwaizumi, but when they hit, they hit _hard_. Matsukawa’s had to stop him hurting himself before, on an especially bad day shortly after they lost to Karasuno. He just hopes Oikawa can keep Iwaizumi calm - he generally can - until he arrives.

When Matsukawa skids to a halt at Iwaizumi’s house, the front door is already ajar. Oikawa must have opened it for him to save time. He enters and hurriedly kicks his shoes off, making his way up the stairs. Sure enough, in Iwaizumi’s room, the Ace himself is swaddled in blankets like a burrito, Oikawa perched on the edge of the bed and rubbing his hand up and down where Iwaizumi’s back would be. Oikawa gives Matsukawa a sad, wonky smile.

“It’s bad.”

“Hajime…” Iwaizumi makes a startled sound at Matsukawa’s voice, but barely moves. Politely, Oikawa steps out. He pats Matsukawa’s shoulder as he leaves, partly encouragement and partly support. 

“I’ll prepare some snacks.”

“Thanks, Oikawa.” The bedroom door shuts behind him, and Matsukawa slowly approaches the bed. 

“Hey…” With the bare minimum effort, Iwaizumi rolls from his side onto his back, wriggling an arm free to reach out for Matsukawa, who takes his hand softly and presses a kiss to the knuckles. Iwaizumi looks tired, but more so, he looks like he’s been crying.

“Issei.” His voice croaks, and Matsukawa feels a pang in his heart, torn up at the sight of his boyfriend so _distressed_.

“D’you wanna talk about it?” Iwaizumi shakes his head, tugging lightly at Matsukawa’s hand. Carefully and gently, Matsukawa moves to lie next to him, pressing their foreheads together. They lie in silence, eyes closed and syncing their breathing. Just being together seems to relax Iwaizumi, the tension seeping out of his shoulders and his breath hitching much less. When Matsukawa deems him ready, he softly presses a kiss to the corner of Iwaizumi’s lips.

“Feeling better?” Iwaizumi humms, wriggling closer and wrapping his arms around Matsukawa’s shoulders.

“A little. You always make me feel better.”

“I’m glad~.” This time, Iwaizumi is the one to connect their lips, a gentle peck that’s entirely innocent and more like a thank you than anything else. It’s still filled with love, and Matsukawa grins goofily at the warmth he feels.

“I love you, Hajime~.”

“M’love you too, Issei. Sorry I-”

“Shh. Don’t apologise for something you can’t help.” Iwaizumi’s fist clenches in the back of Matsukawa’s shirt, his nose scrunching up like the material in his hand, eyes starting to water with frustration.

“But I _should_ be able to- I should be able to h-help it. I’m just st-stupid and worthless and _it’s all my fault_ -”

“No, no… Hajime, it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.” Matsukawa moves to sit up, pulling Iwaizumi into his lap. One hand rubs Iwaizumi’s back, the other strokes gently through his hair. Lips pressed to the shell of his ear, Matsukawa gently whispers directly to Iwaizumi’s soul.

“It is _not_ your fault. You have shitty days, yes, but that’s a direct result of a _disorder_ , okay? That’s not something any of us can control, and only your meds can help. So don’t you dare blame yourself okay? You’re _amazing_ , Hajime. You’re amazing, and beautiful, and- and strong and I- I love you so, _so_ much.”

Iwaizumi is silent for a moment, shaking. Then, with a choked sob, he buries himself in Matsukawa’s shoulder, trying to calm himself whilst muttering his love for Matsukawa over and over again. Sighing through his nose with a placid smile, Matsukawa never stop stroking his hair and back until Iwaizumi finally pulls away with a sniffle, wiping his face with his sleeve.

“There we go. Calm?”

“Mhm. And thirsty. Hungry too.”

“Let’s head downstairs~. Oikawa’s got snacks ready.” Slowly, they untangle from the covers and each other, heading downstairs with hands tightly holding each other.

Sometimes, alone time doesn’t go as planned. But Matsukawa doesn’t mind, as long as Iwaizumi wants or needs him at that time. They’ve always got next week to rest, together in heart and soul when not physically nearby.

**Author's Note:**

> Do NOT ever try popping a cake bubble mid-way through cooking. Seriously. It's a real mess.


End file.
